


Counting Crows

by Em3kitty



Category: Original Work
Genre: Drabble Collection, Drabbles, Gen, Gender Neutral Character, Nursery Rhyme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 01:22:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15741255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em3kitty/pseuds/Em3kitty
Summary: One for SorrowTwo for JoyThree for a girlFour for a boyFive for silverSix for goldSeven for a secretNever to be told





	1. One for Sorrow

Trudging through the graveyard, Riley couldn’t help but marvel at the eerie silence. A week ago, they lost both their parents in a fatal car accident - a drunk driver - and not once in all that time had it been so quiet.

Riley had been overwhelmed with adult, after adult, after adult, _after adult_. Doctors, nurses, neighbours, teachers, child protection services, suit after suit, after suit, _after suit_. All Riley had wanted, was some quiet, was some space. Yet it seemed, the one day they got it, was the one day they didn’t want it.

A week of “I’m sorry for your loss,” and adults who felt entitled to _hug_ Riley, it was just too much.

None of the hugs were ever _right_ , and that was probably the worst part. Mr. Mumford, his arms were too thin. Mrs. Pelosi, her arms were too tight. Mr. and Mrs. Teevis, their hugs were too suffocating.

None of the hugs were ever _right_.

None of the hugs were _theirs_.

And it was all painfully obvious as Riley stared down at the closed coffin’s belonging to their parents - yet another painful reminder that not even a final glance upon their faces was permitted.

And as a singular crow cawed, a sole tear slid down Riley’s face.


	2. Two for Joy

Today was adoption day. As Riley sat in the bay window overlooking the yard, watching the two crows dance, they didn’t know what to feel.

Mr. and Mrs. Moore were a kind couple, and had been fostering Riley for the last year. It’s been a wild year - a new school, new friends, and most of all, new parents. A year had past since Riley’s parents passed away, and the Moore’s couldn’t have been more supportive. They didn’t push being called Mum or Dad, and they made regular trips back to Riley’s small hometown to visit the graves in which they laid.

It was last week, when Riley broke their arm falling out of a tree, and called out to the Moore’s, for the first time calling them Mum and Dad, that they decided that adoption was finally what they all wanted.

So Riley was conflicted.

Riley was happy. Happy to be in a family, happy to be loved, happy to be _wanted_ . But Riley didn’t want to forget their parents. They didn’t want to forget the look on their dad’s face when Riley first learned to ride a bike, or the feel of mum’s hugs when they had a bad day at school. Riley didn’t want to forget _them_.

As Mr. and Mrs. Moore stepped into the room, smiles so wide, so bright, that it was if the sun had come out from behind the clouds for the first time. In that moment, Riley knew that Mr. and Mrs. Moore would never replace their parents, but that didn’t mean Riley would love them any less.

Leaping off the window seat, Riley forgot all about the pair of crows hopping about on the path below, and ran to embrace their new parents.


End file.
